Monday Morning Coffee

Monday Morning Coffee

By Billy Rainford

Call it ‘Global Warming’ or ‘Climate Change,’ it doesn’t make any difference. The bottom line is that we’re seeing much warmer winter temperatures in these parts. To that point, there’s a good chance I’ll be getting together with a few buddies and going for a road cycle this afternoon – unheard of in London, Ontario, at the beginning of February! Yes, there are those who bundle up with their booties, balaclavas, and hand warmers, and ride all year, but I’m talking about a ride where the temperature is up around 10 degrees Celsius/52 degrees F. It’s just not normal!

I do remember that one winter riding this big old Can Am 125 on New Years Day, but, then again, it rode more like a snowmobile anyway!

It’s so unseasonably warm here that I sent Gopher Dunes‘ Derek Schuster a text asking if they’re opening today. He laughed and said, “No, too muddy!” But you could ride out there if you really wanted. Now, I know you lucky people who live out in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island are scratching your head, wondering what all the fuss of an early-February ride is all about, but the rest of Canada is supposed to be covered in ice and snow this time of year. It’s not.

Unfortunately, those bike shops in the area who budget a big part of their year on snowmobile and accessory sales are hurting right about now. Unless we get a crazy amount of snowstorms and lasting snow this coming month, it’s concerning what this will mean to some of the smaller shops all across the province. While you’re out mowing your lawns, sitting on the patio, or riding your bikes, do a little snow dance for these guys.

Oakland SX Results

Arenacross UK – Newcastle Rounds 8-9

Friday

Saturday

Yes, that’s Canadian Kieran Doherty you see in those Pro Lites results. The Kingston, Ontario, rider got the opportunity to head over to England for the 2016 Arenacross UK season and compete in every round. Not only has Kieran been traveling all over the UK, but he’s been keeping an audio diary of all his experiences, both on and off the track. Here’s his latest podcast from his ‘Across the Pond‘ series:

Keep living the dream, Kieran!

Winter X Games Canadian MXer Results

We had a few known motocrossers out in Aspen, Colorado, competing in the Winter X Games over the weekend.

In Snowcross, we had Motopark‘s Iain Hayden and Quebec rider Tim Tremblay:

In the Snowmobile Freestyle, Josh Penner got his first invite. He had troubles getting his sled running properly at the Aspen altitude and crashed his bobbling sled. He borrowed a sled for the finals and had troubles there too:

We’ll try to get in touch with him to find out what the experience was like for the rider listed as ‘Grain Farmer’ in the program.

Amsoil Arenacross

The Amsoil Arenacross series headed to Greenboro, North Carolina, on the weekend, as riders try to gain the necessary points to make the jump to Supercross.

Get Supercross for All on Canadian TV

Joel McDonald is causing quite a stir in the Canadian media as he tries to make Fox Racing available on all Canadian carriers. Check out his latest accomplishment – getting noticed in some mainstream media.Check out this article on the Toronto Star site:

Much of it will be televised Saturday and Sunday by FOX Sports Racing, which is carried by Rogers and Cogeco. Bell and Shaw still do not have the channel, which means that many Canadian race fans, particularly those in Western Canada, are being denied their favourite sport.

The suits who run those cable and satellite companies do not seem to understand, or couldn’t care less (which is even more insulting), that there is more to racing than F1, NASCAR or IndyCar on TSN and Sportsnet.

World championship sports car and motorcycle racing (the Moto GP world championship, for instance) and motocross races, in particular, can only be accessed on FSR and it is a travesty that the channel has not been made available across the country, particularly since a Canadian national racing series is part of the lineup.

But the squeaky wheel gets the grease. A fellow in Uxbridge, Joel McDonald (no relation), has campaigned quietly (and not so quietly, sometimes) for the past year to get Shaw and Bell to see the light. He says people who want the channel simply must make the effort to reach out and demand action.

And he’s made it really easy for you to do:

If you are a Shaw customer, all you have to do is copy this address — channel requests@sjrb.ca — into your browser and it will take you directly to a Channel Request form. Call it up, fill it out and your work is done. But then turn around and tell all your friends who are Shaw subscribers to do the same thing. Only if Shaw gets the message that there is great interest in this channel will they respond.

Bell is a little more complicated. You must telephone them. Call 1-866-310-2355 and ask to put in a Channel Request. Then, do what they tell you to do and cross your fingers.

Good luck. But remember: if you don’t make the effort, those TV companies won’t do anything. You have to show them that you mean business.

Is it just me, or does amateur racing in Canada seem to be undergoing a rather turbulent time of unrest at the moment? As a media source, we’re hear to cover any and all motocross racing where Canadians are involved, let’s just hope Canadian riders know where and when to race. It’s getting complicated up in herr!

The Rumour Mill

Yes, it’s that time of year when we start wondering who’s going where. With so many very fast riders still left scratching their helmets, several rumours have been floating around the industry.

Nathan Bles and Jess Pettis to support rides at Gopher Dunes Racing – I got in touch with Derek Schuster today and all he could say is that “At this point, it’s a stretch for me to be adding any guys.” But he added that they are “definitely two worthy guys of a good ride.”

Shawn Maffenbeier to Redemption Racing – The rider from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, is a title threat. He should be getting looked at by most of the top teams here in Canada. This rumour seems to be gaining some serious traction. A Redemption team with #6 Cade Clason on a 450 and #15 Shawn Maffenbeier on a 250F would be a pretty serious team for Josh Snider and the gang!

We’ll be sure to confirm or squash these rumours as we learn more from the people involved.

Why might this guy be smiling? ~ Bigwave photo

DMX Pre and After-Parties at the Toronto Supercross

Yep, the race is back and, equally as important, so are the parties! We’ll be heading back to The Houston on Yonge Street in the heart of downtown Toronto both nights for great food, a few beverages, and lots and lots of bench racing. These parties have sort of become legendary, so you won’t want to miss either night.

But be warned, things fill up fast, so as soon as the 450 podium speeches are wrapping up, you should almost be at the front doors of The Houston! Seriously.

David and Ben Toye are right now in the process of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s to ensure we all have a great time. Thanks for stepping up, guys!

You don’t want to miss it!

Have a great week, everyone. I know my neighbour checks out these Monday Morning Coffee articles looking for silly stories, but I don’t really have one for you this week, Lisa. I’ll start earlier next Monday. Oh, it WAS actually pretty cool to get invited to her dinner party Saturday night to find out her new BF used to know Canadian Moto legend, Chris Morgan “back in the day.” And also to find out that Chris also used to ride dirt bikes. Everyone that walks past our house seems to have some sort of moto connection to discuss when they read the side of the Direct Motocross van! Cool.